The most interesting cases of human technological advancements are those wherein socio-cultural and material technologies come together and create progress. Other areas of interest include those wherein socio-cultural and material technologies combine in ways that are more confrontational than harmonious.
{As a philosophical aside, one must wonder: what exactly is progress?}
Robert McElvaine noted the instance of gender roles and agriculture occurring close enough in time to influence and propel the furtherance of one another in a sort of symbiotic, mutually dependent relationship.
Indeed, other examples abound throughout the history of humanity, such as:
Religion as a socio-cultural technology that aided in the consolidation of power wielded by early city-state rulers;
Spoken language as a socio-cultural technology that led to the development of the material technology of a written language;
Racism as a socio-cultural innovation that made feasible the material technology of a slave-labor system in the United States;
the Rule of Law as a socio-cultural technology which led to the legitimization of socio-political power structures, state sovereignty, and the like;
and countless others...
There are any number of instances where socio-cultural and material technologies have interested and interacted to profoundly affect the course of human history, if only I train myself to consider the world in such a manner.
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